Impending Cyclone

The impending cyclone – that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when something significant and unknown is about to happen.  It is a bit like the feeling you get before going to a job interview or going to the dentist. 

That ominous white blob on the satellite photographs that slowly crawls in your general direction.  It is a time when you give thanks to the modern marvels of technology such as the internet so you can follow every centimetre of the cyclone’s progress. 

Of course a good way of dealing with this concern is to keep as busy as possible so you don’t have time to think about things too much.  That is generally fairly easy as there are always plenty of jobs to do: 

-          Tying down the windmills around the property

-          Tying down the sheds

-          Putting all the vehicles undercover

-          Cleaning up around the homestead so that there is no debris lying around.

Our animals are always our primary consideration on the station.  The cattle generally do a good job of looking after themselves.  They get in amongst the trees to shelter from the wind where possible. 

As the cyclone approaches we all start to sweat on each update from the weather bureau – has the cyclone changed direction?  Will we get more wind or less?  How much rain will we get? 

The weather bureau issued a warning about storm surges along the coast.  Our homestead is situated about 7 kilometres from the ocean.  Prior to the commencement of the strong winds, we could hear the ocean from the homestead – the constant roar sounded much like an aircraft in the distance. 

Tropical Cyclone Lua passed near us without causing too many problems.  It was certainly very windy with the house I was sheltering feeling like it was shaking in the wind.  The photos of the palm trees give a good idea that it was very windy. 

The biggest problem turned out to be all the debris which accumulated around the homestead. 

Cyclones are part of the fabric of life in the north of Western Australia.  Between Broome and Exmouth is the most cyclone prone coastline in Australia. 

It doesn’t make it any less frightening when it happens but at least we know we can prepare well when the next one happens.